Hello: Kyle Bosch

According to both 24/7's Steve Wiltfong and TomVH, Wheaton (IL) St. Francis OL Kyle Bosch committed to Michigan on his visit this afternoon. Bosch joins QB Shane Morris, S Dymonte Thomas, and TE Khalid Hill as the fourth member of the Wolverine class of 2013.

GURU RATINGS

Scout

Rivals

ESPN

24/7 Sports

NR OT

4*, #9 OT,
#60 Ovr

4*, ESPNU
150 Watch List

4*, 95, #7 OT,
#44 Ovr

Every recruiting service but Scout has put out extensive early rankings for the class of 2013, and in those Bosch acquits himself well, making the top 100 in all three (here is ESPN's, which is hard to find [$]). He's one of the ten best tackles in the country, and those guys will usually make a strong push for the top 50 overall recruits by the end of the year. All four sites list Bosch at 6'5" and between 280 and 285 pounds; he has the frame to play either tackle or guard, and 24/7 goes so far as to list him at both positions.

Bosch has been hitting the camp circuit and turning heads since his freshman year of high school. More recently—January of this year, to be precise—he participated in the Marines' Junior Rank Diamond Flight camp in Chicago, and Scout's Allen Trieu said he stood out above all the other underclassmen at the event:

"Leading the way was Wheaton (Ill.) St. Francis' class of 2013 offensive lineman, Kyle Bosch," said Allen Trieu, Scout.com Midwest regional manager, "He has excellent technique, is strong, and plays mean and physical. He told me most schools see him as a tackle, while a few see him as a guard. I can see why some schools would project him inside, but I think he could play either depending on the school. Regardless, he is ahead of the curve and really impressive."

Bosch reportedly went undefeated in one-on-one pass blocking drills at the camp," a remarkable feat considering his high school team only throws the ball an average of four times per game." He's used his combine experience not just to show off his skills, but to hone them as well. His coach echoes the sentiment that he plays with an edge ($):

"I think the biggest thing is that he has such a high motor," said [St. Francis coach Greg] Purnell. "He's a very intense football player, and I think a lot of times, bigger kids like that take a while to develop that. But he has an intensity level that I've never seen in a big guy. He loves contact. That, to me, is the big difference."

“We have not seen many offensive linemen in the Midwest early,” said Rivals.com Midwest recruiting analyst Josh Helmholdt, “but the 6-5, 275-pound Bosch stood out because he is well ahead of his years technically."

Strong, versatile, technical, and mean? Please and thank you.

Elsewhere, Tom Lemming called Bosch "the best sophomore lineman [he's] seen since Chance Carter," a class of 2010 defense end who committed to Northwestern. Lemming noted that Carter leveled off in his final two seasons; it doesn't appear the same will be the case for Bosch at this juncture. In December, TomVH named Bosch as the #2 offensive recruit with a Michigan offer, behind only Ty Isaac and ahead of standouts like Ethan Pocic, Logan Tuley-Tillman, Laquon Treadwell, and Adam Breneman ($). Magnus/Thunder gives his scouting report of Bosch over at TTB, projecting him to guard while comparing him to former Michigan All-American tackle Jeff Backus.

OFFERS

Bosch held 21 offers from all over the country when he committed: Alabama, Arizona, ASU, Boston College, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Miami (YTM), Michigan State, Minnesota, Ole Miss, Mizzou, Nebraska, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Purdue, Stanford, Tennessee, and West Virginia. No matter what point you're at in the process, but especially this early, that's one heck of a list.

STATS

No stats for offensive linemen, obviously, but Bosch was named all-area and all-state in 2011.

FAKE 40 TIME

24/7 lists a 5.25 40 time, which doesn't sound at all unrealistic for an offensive lineman lauded for his athleticism. I'll give it a token two FAKEs out of five, only because I don't know the source of the time.

VIDEO

WARNING: This junior highlight reel, while short, contains an excessive amount of violence.

Bosch also has a more extensive sophomore highlight film that you can see here.

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

With Michigan going after so many elite tackles in this class, I see Bosch ending up at guard as a Wolverine, though he could play left tackle—assuming he's starting at the same time as the lefty Shane Morris—and excel there as well. At 6'5", and with Michigan pursuing so many prototype tackle prospects, I don't see him protecting the blind side, but he's one of the more college-ready prospects you're going to find at this stage in the process.

With Patrick Omameh, Ricky Barnum, and Elliott Mealer all graduating after 2012, Bosch should immediately provide depth at guard. Depending on where the coaches decide to use Kyle Kalis, he could be in the mix for playing time as well. At the very least, Bosch fits the profile of a prospect who should be a multi-year starter and compete for all-conference honors down the road.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

Michigan will take at least three, if not four or five, more offensive linemen in the class. The Wolverines appear to be in the drivers seat for tackles Logan Tuley-Tillman and Chris Fox, while the highest-ranked lineman in the Midwest, Ethan Pocic, is on campus this weekend. They are in the mix for several other top prospect, as well, though at least one lineman is going to have to project to center—unless that player is Bosch, the Wolverines may have some tough decisions to make about which linemen they take (and how many) this year.

Welcome Kyle. I love seeing more OLs given the lack of depth the team has in the front line at certain positions. Hopefully he does become a Jeff Backus-type player, as he was one of my favorite linemen UM has had.

Visions of Wisconsin offensive lines, but bigger and faster, dance through my head for the next few years - turning our running backs into all-world types much in the way Wisconsin has turned so many mediocre backs like PJ Hill, Rony Dayne into stats studs.

Really. Our team is going to be like Wisconsin on steroids - slightly better offense, and quite a better defense than the Wiscy mediocre D's. This will put us into the top 5 annually for years.

Welcome aboard Kyle, you are now part of the greatest team in the world!!! The 2013 class may end up being the best one ever. All four commits today are very highly ranked and im very happy that they decided to join THE WOLVERINES!